The Capital Price Tag
by HardcoreHamsta
Summary: When mercenary Alex Black travels from the Commonwealth to D.C., he is separated from his caravan and he has to fight for his life, traveling the Capital Wasteland. After being captured by raiders, he ends up killing one of the most infamous people in the wasteland; The Lone Wanderer. Becoming famous for murder wasn't on his list of accomplishments in The Capital Wasteland!
1. Chapter 1

Alex's feet dragged through the sand, stirring up clouds of dust in his wake. He placed both feet carefully in front of him, careful not to fall. His feet wobbled and his 10mm pistol made it feel like he was carrying a block of steel, which made his journey even more laborious. Both feet were swollen so bad, they almost popped out his leather boots. He liked those boots too. Not to mention, the sun beat down on him so hard, he could feel heat trapping in his pores. Every ounce of sweat he could muster would be at once caked with dirt and dust, not letting the sweat cool his body. Sweat was even rare too, as Alex had not had water in about two days. Any droplet of moisture in his body seemed to be non-existent, and carnivorous crows were circling his head. Still, through the pain, he staggered through the dirt, praying any sign of water or civilization could be recognized. None. The only thing he noticed were rocks, dirt, and mole rats out in the far reaches of the blurry horizon.

 _I screwed up_ , he thought, _it probably would have been better if I stayed put throughout the rad storm. Now I'll never find them._

The sun hovered over him, and after a couple more steps, his foot crunched to a halt in the old dirt. Alex looked slowly up to the sun, wondering what time it was. The cool but, still warm, air of night had passed Alex by in a flash. The day seemed to last longer than any night Alex had lived through. After staring back down to the ground, he set off again, to his unknown destination. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the chalky strands fall between his finger. The shaggy brown hair of his was matted with clumps of dirt and sweat, accumulated from the death march of the past two days.

For the next few hours, Alex traversed the rocky wasteland. Nothing of importance really caught his eye. His body and mind only craved two things; food and water. The determination to find these objects drove him, his instincts to survive gave him his strength.

 _I need a vantage point,_ he thought, _somewhere I can recuperate._

Alex rested his right hand on his forehead, blocking the sun from his vision so he could scour the horizon for any sign of elevation. He had almost gave up, but soon he spotted a rocky cliff that towered slightly off the ground. Now with his adrenaline pumping, Alex race walked over to the cliff, stumbling to the ground a few times in the process. Soon, Alex found himself wrapping his hands around the large rock, pulling himself over. While dragging himself over the rocky cliff though, he stumbled, falling down over the opposite side into the jagged cracks of stone.

"I'm done," he rasped aloud," it's over. All of this for nothing…."

Alex started to sob, the tears in his eyes rolling down his dirty face. He gave up, letting his body go limp as the sun hammered down onto his face. There he stayed, unmoving, accepting his fate.

Fate had a different plan for him though.

Soon a shadow had cascaded over him, providing a tiny bit of shade for his sweating and peeling head. Even as Alex opened his eyes, he could still not make out the face's figure. Struggling to get up, Alex shifted his torso and the stranger tucked their hands underneath him, hoisting him up. To be honest, Alex was more dragged then hoisted up, but still the figure was moving him. At this point, Alex gave up on trying to follow the person's face with his eyes, but instead focused on their figure. No doubt was it a female. She had a slender waist, pronounced chest, and just an overall feminine structure. Again Alex tried to follow her face, but to no avail, he could not set eyes upon her. The journey ensued, slowly traveling to a place Alex could not see. The only view he had was of behind him, and his body left tracks in the dirt. His view remained the same for most of the journey.

After a long time however, Alex's rear met asphalt as he was being dragged and the former shells of buildings slowly passed us by. His eyes followed a sign with weathered letters, which were barely readable. His brain slowly comprehended the letters which then spelled out one word.

Springvale.

 _So we're in a town_ , he thought, _where is she taking me_?

The question started bugging him so he mustered the strength to talk through his dry throat.

"Where….we going?"

The woman stopped dragging him, and dropped him hard into the cement below him. Even though he fell inches, it felt like Alex was dropped from stories up. He let out a sharp gasp of pain and the woman leaned in closer to him. Alex turned his head to her and he opened his eyes wide in surprise. The first look at her horrified him.

A raider.

She had blood smeared on her dirty face and her golden blonde hair fell just barely over her shoulders. On her face she wore a wicked smile and her eyes met his for an instant. The eyes were what let Alex confirm his suspicions. They were the eyes of a madman, a plain psychopath. This woman wore those eyes like jewelry, showing them off to Alex.

After staring for a solid minute, the raider woman firmly grasped Alex's neck and sunk her sharp, dirty nails into his skin. She giggled wickedly, whispering into his ear," Now, where's the surprise in that? You seem far too cute to let rot out there, I want to kill you on my own terms. It's ok though, this should be an okay spot to put your head on a stick."

She then stood up, kicking Alex in the chest for good measure, and then took out a rusted pocket knife. Twirling it in her hands, she bent over and proceeded to sink the teeth of the knife into Alex's neck. "Okay, let's get started you little shi-"

She never finished her sentence as a loud bang rang out and her skull broke apart, and it spilled brains and blood onto Alex's jacket. Even with the hole in her head, the raider still wore that wicked expression, and she always will as her body crumbled over mine and sun again beat down on his face. Alex tried to get up, but the raider was too heavy and he was too weak. With his heart racing now, Alex shifted his head to and fro, looking for the source of the gunshot. He saw no one, only did he hear the crunch of footsteps in the broken road. Alex heard a whistle, and this time he turned his head to the left, spotting a man wearing a tattered duster, and a grimey blue and yellow striped jumpsuit underneath. He carried various amounts of ammo in his utility belt and slung over his shoulder was a .308 caliber hunting rifle accustomed with a scope. He was as dirty as Alex, if not dirtier. The man crunched to a halt about five feet from Alex and started laughing in surprise.

"Damn, I actually hit her. How far was that? I'd say about a good one-hundred meter shot right there."

Alex just stared back, in awe and fear. The man just stared as well, waiting for something.

"Could, you help me man?" Alex asked.

As soon as he said that however, the man had kicked the raider off of Alex and he held a .32 revolver to his head. " I asked you a question boy, I said 'how far was that?', not 'you need some help?'" Alex was surprised by this sudden act of violence, and he recoiled, turning over to crawl away. The man was on him in a second, crashing his foot into Alex's back, screaming," What you got on you?!"

Alex again tried to scramble away, but the weight of the man held him in place.

"ANSWER ME!"

"NOTHING!" Alex screamed back, still struggling.

Oh well, what we have here," the man asked, grabbing Alex's holster,"Well, we got ourselves a 10mm. You know, this is the first ever gunI used to kill somebody. It's reliable, good at close range, and pretty compact for easy storage. It's a good pistol, if you're going up against your everyday bloatfly or radroach. That's going to do nothing compared to this…."

The man shook his shoulder, sliding the hunting rifle into his arms.

He continued,"This here is a .308, high damage and good penetration. Takes down a protectron with about…. seven shots. That is if you aim in the right place. Also good on super mutants, yao guai, and….people."

Alex just listened to the crazy man's ramblings, looking for an opening in the conversation to run.

"That's what I'm gonna kill you with today. My little rifle here is very eager to fill you up with lead."

The man glanced over Alex's pistol, before tossing it on the ground in front of him.

"But, I'm not an unfair man. I'll give you thirty seconds to run. Or you can stay and fight, which, will be a little more entertaining. So here I go. On-"

The man's jaw was blown clean off, spraying blood over Alex.

He then put his arm, and gun down, just staring as the man fell backwards with a thud.

 _The bastard should have been paying attention,_ Alex thought, _too busy talking to see me reach for the gun and blow his head off!_

He looked down at his 10mm, the barrel smoking. Alex then stared back at both of the bodies that laid around him and he started to laugh. It was a sad laugh, a laugh that held back a lot of sadness, The sadness had soon seeped through the laugh though, and was replaced by a soft sob. The sun beat down harder than ever and Alex started to lick the salty tears streaming down his dirty face. The air was hot, the sound of wind sweeping through the broken buildings filled Alex's ears. It was a beautiful sound, a sound unlike any other.

 _A sound almost as beautiful as mom's singing_ , he thought with his eyes happily closed.

This thought jerked his eyes open, and his survival instincts kicked in, giving him adrenaline. Alex hungrily looked back to the remains of the sadistic man's face. _He won't need his stuff anymore I guess_ , Alex thought. He then pushed himself off the ground, sending pains throughout his body, and he strode over to the man's body. Alex hesitated though, not sure if he should touch his disgusting body. Smacking his dry tongue to the roof of his mouth changed his mind.

Alex turned the man over, and firstly looked into his backpack. He was not disappointed.

In the patched over bag, laid two boxes of salisbury steak, some type of jerky, and a canteen of hopefully clean water. This guy was relatively carrying light amounts of food, so he must have been running low or he was close to home. Either way, Alex greedily stuffed the food into his mouth, crying over the amazing flavor of the two-hundred year old package of steak. It was so good, he almost opened the other box, but decided to ration it in case he couldn't find any other food for a while. And the canteen of water, which he drank in about four gulps, was thankfully purified. With his belly full, Alex was still very weak and the sky was becoming a slight orange, indicating sundown. He continued to rummage around in the pack and found two stimpacks, some Jet, and a box of .308 rounds. He took inventory, adding up his ammunition, and came to the total of sixteen .308 rounds, seven .32 rounds, and sixty two 10mm bullets. He stuffed everything into the pack and dusted off his pants, getting ready for tomorrow's journey. He looked around for a place to lay his head for the night. _That little tool shed will do_ , he thought.

Alex shakily got up and went on his merry way, or so he tried.

 _PING_

Alex looked back at the man's corpse, alerted by the loud noise which originated from him. A small green glow was radiating from the man's wrist. Alex, now perplexed, stepped over the bodies, inspecting the bulky device on the man's arm. Alex hadn't noticed the device earlier as the man had been shoving a gun in his face, but here it was glowing a light green. He then bent over, releasing the device from it's original owner.

 _Ehhh, what the heck, you only live once,_ Alex thought.

Fixating the device onto his left arm, Alex secured the device, and pressed the little power button next to the screen. Almost instantly, hundreds of lines of codes flooded through the screen. It took a couple seconds, but soon the machine seem to be running a diagnostics. It read:

************************************** PIP-OS(R) V7 1.0.8. ******************************************

COPYRIGHT 2075 ROBCO(R)

LOADER V1.1

EXEC VERSION 41.10

64k RAM SYSTEM

38911 BYTES FREE

NO HOLOTAPE FOUND

LOAD ROM(1): DEITRIX 303

Soon, the text was replaced by **PIP BOY 2000** in big dark letters. After the text disappeared, the image of a guy in the same jumpsuit as the man flashed onto the screen. He was smiling and giving Alex the thumbs up, to which Alex responded with a little laugh. Alex was now walking towards a little shed, still marveling at his new found toy. Entering the shed, Alex spotted an assortment of rusted tools and a small clearing on the floor to lay his head. Putting his backpack on the floor, Alex rested his head on it and continued to stare at the little boy on his screen. But sadly, he was gone and was replaced by a line of text saying," Please state your name."

Alex looked around, checking to see if anyone was in earshot.

"Alex Black," he stated.

The Pip Boy went blank for a second, and an hourglass took form, spinning in the middle of the screen.

"Did you say 'Alex Black?'"

He responded with an amazed 'yes'. Never had he seen such amazing technology, not in the Commonwealth anyways.

Soon after, the Pip Boy went blank again.

"Commencing neural interface link…."

A white hot wave of pain coursed over Alex's left arm, traveling up his arm and down his back. He was now convulsing on the floor of the little shack and his eyes had rolled back in his head. Than, if it wasn't bad enough, the pain traveled finally, to his head. Alex only saw darkness as his back made an arch and he was hitting his head violently on the floor. It felt like forever, and Alex wasn't sure if he was conscious or unconscious. Just then, as soon as it began, the pain was gone and the Pip Boy gave off a slight green glow. Alex had stopped shaking and his eyes were now back to normal, but closed.

He passed out from the pain.

The Pip Boy uttered one word,"Complete."

However, Alex didn't hear it as he was having the best sleep in what felt like years.

. . . . . . . .

 **Hello!**

 **Thank You for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I can answer any of your questions if you like, and I hope you guys like my sequence with the Pip Boy startup. I know it's not lore friendly, but I hope it doesn't bother anybody too much. Reviews are welcomed and I hope you all have a fantastic morning, afternoon, or night!**

 **-Hardcore Hamsta**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so you guys may have had some difficulty picturing Alex, so I'm going to give a description of him now:**

 **Race/Sex** : Caucasian, Male

 **Height:** 5'9

 **Weight:** 146 lbs.

 **Age:** 17 yrs. old

 **Hair Color:** Brown

 **Eye Color:** Hazel

 **Favorite Weapons:** Small Guns such as the 10mm pistol and the 9mm Submachine Gun. Alex favors easy handling and quick accessibility to his weapon.

 **Personality:** Rash and he acts on Instinct. When faced with problems, Alex faces them with obvious tactics, not really thinking through a plan. Though intelligent, he has a tendency for violence due to his long time relationship with the Gunners and Talon Company mercenaries.

 **Mentality:** Unstable….

 **Whooo, that last one was spooky. But, seriously, I had visioned Alex with a tragic backstory (which will be touched on later) which causes him to think differently compared to others. I hope that gives you an idea on what type of person Alex is, and i hope you can forgive me for not speaking about his looks and personality. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **-Hardcore Hamsta**

. . . . . . . .

The sky was beautiful that morning. Alex peaked through crusty eyes and he could barely see the sun through the tiny hole in the shed walls, but there the sun sat, just over a rocky hill. The sun radiated beams of orange, which all tore through the light blue sky. The clouds seemed to be very light and the moon was also hovering in the sky, semi-transparent, but still there. Between all the colors and beautifulness that was shimmering through the cracks in the plank shed, Alex didn't notice the unusual fullness invading the tiny room. He shifted his aching head to the left, and noticed three things. One; his backpack was no longer under his head. Two; his hands were bound with rope to objects on his left and right, spreading his arms into an uncomfortable position. And three; there were two people also accompanying him in the shack.

Realization broke into his head, and instantly, Alex laid his head back in hopes that the intruders didn't notice his sudden movement. They didn't.

"Damn, this kid better not be one of those mercenaries, have enough of those as is," one said, which was obviously a man based on his deep voice.

"Awww, why not! They always have good stories to tell when they visit the shop! Oh, they had this one guy, big cold blooded killer, well he told me that he once killed a deathclaw with nothing but one pipe pistol bullet! No power armor either!" The other intruder was woman, who seemed a little too excited about all of this.

"Moira, that guy was probably telling you that to get in your pants. Now, either this kid killed him, or walked by and picked that…." the man kicked my Pip Boy,"... thing up. If he did kill him, hell, I don't know if we should help him for killing that son of a bitch, or leave him for all of "101's" friends. Either way, all those raiders and mercs will be close to my town. And I ain't havin' that."

The woman, Moira, quickly offered her opinion.

"I say we help him Lucas, who knows what kind of story he has!"

Lucas sighed heavily," It's never easy with you is it? Well, from a professional standpoint, I say we leave him. We could carry him out somewhere farther away and leave him, maybe even get some rep with that band of raiders up at the school if we drop him off."

Moira frowned, but still Lucas kept a stern face. Throughout the whole conversation however, Alex had been sneakily shifting his right hand towards an old, rusted screwdriver. _One bad move and I'm dead_ , he thought. After ages of inching his hand over, Alex lifted the old tool into his hand. This was fairly easy as Moira and Lucas had been bickering over Alex's fate.

"Moira! Think of what would happen if we let the killer of one of the most notorious people in the wasteland into our town. Our walls would be broken down in hours, if not minutes! He's too dangerous!"

Moira started to tear up. "Okay, but in all seriousness Lucas, he looks no older than nineteen, maybe younger than me! I mean, do you really want his blood on your hands? At least if we die helping him, we would have died for a good cause. Because in the end, you and I both know that Megaton isn't gonna stay standing forever. It's only a matter of time either way."

Lucas had kneeled over, releasing the binds on my left hand,"We'll vote I guess. So we have one against one, we'll tally up the rest of votes in the town center."

Alex's heart was racing, and he was ready to strike. Lucas crawled a bit towards him and loosened his binds slightly. Alex gripped harder on the tool.

"Make that three votes," Alex yelled.

Before Lucas could react, Alex had plunged the screwdriver into Lucas's shoulder, tackling him to the ground and getting back up. Lucas shouted in pain and glared back at Alex before unholstering his weapon.

A Chinese Assault Rifle.

 _Crap_ , Alex thought while staring straight down the barrel of the weapon. Alex mustered his strength and sprinted out of the shed, shoving Moira aside. She must have hit something, because Alex heard a crash followed by,"Ouchie!" Lucas was still not on his feet, but he was able to get up and aim out the door with his good arm. Alex ran harder now, and a series of tiny explosions rang behind him. Lucas had started firing with one arm! All of the bullets, raced by Alex, landing into the ground or flying into the distance.

 _I need cover,_ Alex thought, _he's shooting too wildly!_

Spotting an old rusted truck, Alex quickened his pace, practically leaping with every step. Lucas issued another volley of gunfire, some stirring up dust as they penetrated the ground. The dust got into Alex's eyes, disorienting him and causing a nasty stinging in his eyes. The stinging was no competition though, because a new pain replaced it in his leg. The pain was very fresh, making him nauseous, and he stumbled into the dirt. Crawling on the ground, Alex frantically clutched the dirt in his hands, looking for a grip. He found one, and in a matter of seconds, Alex was behind the dilapidated automobile.

 _Don't look, it only gets worse if you look_ , Alex stated in his mind.

He looked.

On his right calf, a little flesh tunnel was dug by the bullet, leaving a trails of blood in the dirt. Where his leg muscle used to be, is now a small gap of air, none of the muscle there anymore. He was panting hard, his breath coming out ragged and wheezy. The ambush of bullets was over and now only an eerie silence filled the space between ihe shed and the truck in the middle of the street. Alex again looked back to his leg, observing the small red pool of liquid forming under his injury.

It hurt.

A lot.

Alex was gritting his teeth now and he was out of options.

 _Ping._

He looked at his left wrist, studying the Pip Boy. _It pinged,_ he thought. Alex wiped the dirt off the screen and held his hand over the screen, trying to block the sunlight beaming down on it. He read the barely visible text and scoffed.

[ RIGHT LEG CRIPPLED, USE A STIMPACK OR SLEEP TO RECOVER ]

 _Thanks, Captain Obvious,_ he thought sarcastically, _I didn't know!_

Alex gave out a pained growl and looked down at his waist. In the confusion, he didn't notice that those people forgot to take one thing.

His 10mm, tucked sneakily in his pants.

He hastily grasped it and ejected the magazine. He breathed a sigh of relief after finding the clip to be full, all twelve bullets accounted for.

All twelve bullets to be used to fend off the intruders, maybe even used to kill them.

"If that's what I have to do…." he whispered before standing up and taking aim at the shed,"...then, so be it!"

Alex heard a click behind him, followed by a metal barrel being pressed against the back of his head.

"So, what are you gonna do kid?"

Alex turned, but Lucas and Moira pushed him against the truck, swiping the 10mm from his hand.

Moira giggled happily and released her hold on Alex to inspect my firearm," Ohhh! Look at this pistol! So well maintained! What do you use for lubricant?"

"It's ummm…. Wilson Combat Ultima-Lube II. It has petroleum and synthetic lubricants which are really good for semi-auto handguns," Alex replied sheepishly.

Moira marveled at the well kept up weapon and Lucas sighed before bursting out angrily,"Moira! Get a hold of him, I've only got one good arm!"

"Sorry!" she squealed, placing a firm grip on my arms and legs.

Lucas sighed again,"Enough of the gun talk, you're gonna answer MY questions kid. Whether you want to, or not."

Alex nodded back to him.

"What's your name?"

"Alex Black."

"So what's your story?"

Alex sighed and recalled the events of the last three days, not really wanting to play 'storytime.'

" I uhh….am a mercenary. I was travelling with my caravan, when a rad storm split us up and I kinda walked around for about two days before this all happened. I was umm, trying to get a view and I fell off a cliff. I was about to give up, but some lady found me and brought me here. Turns out she was a raider and she was about to kill me when 'he' showed up." Alex gestured over to the bodies down the road, already decomposing in the sunlight. Alex continued,"He saved me, but then turned really sour when I couldn't give him anything in return. So he tossed me my gun and told me that we were gonna fight, or that I could run. While he was talking, I picked up my pistol and shot him. I found this Pip Boy on him, I took his stuff, found a place to sleep, and you know the rest."

"Where you from?"

"I'm uhhh…. from the Commonwealth, you know, Boston?"

"Oh okay, must be one hell of a climate change," Lucas quipped," So, how old are you?"

"I'm seventeen, going on eighteen in about three months."

"Oh yeah?"

Lucas kicked Alex's leg, hard. Blood splattered onto Lucas's shoe and Alex stumbled over from the pain.

"Uggghhh!" he yelled out.

Moira put a hand on Lucas' chest, pushing him slightly.

"THE HELL YOU DOIN' MOIRA?!"

Lucas pushed back, but stopped when he saw Alex sobbing on the ground. Lucas looked like he felt bad, but replaced his apologetic face with the look of dominance.

 _I can't show weakness here,_ Lucas thought.

Moira gently let her hand fall and she hoisted Alex back up, though not very softly. "Don't worry! That shouldn't hurt for too long! We have an amazing doctor back at Megaton, you should see the miracles he does, that is if don't have an extra limb growing from radiation. That grosses him out too much," Moira spoke quickly.

She sure did have an energetic personality.

"That's enough Moira, don't overwhelm the kid."

Alex shakily steadied himself against the truck, his leg pulsing in pain. _Don't overwhelm me?_ , Alex thought, _Well, glad to see you care!_

"You know, a kid your age shouldn't be involved in that shit. Especially if you've been in these types of gangs for a long time. It's bad news if you ever want to leave."

 _Maybe he did care_ , Alex thought.

"You're new around these parts, so let me give you an official welcome…."

Alex was hit in the back of the head before stumbling over into the dirt. He felt consciousness leave his mind and he was entrapped in darkness. Still, Alex heard the world around him, especially the next sentence, which will be etched into his mind forever.

"Welcome to Washington D.C., better known as the Capital Wasteland."

Then he heard nothing, except for a familiar voice. It was a voice Alex knows very well, a voice which struck fear into him the first time he heard it.

It was the voice of "101," as he was called. 101 laughed and echoed the same phrase that was uttered by Lucas. This time his voice was more sinister than the first time they met. It would also not be the last time they spoke either.

" _Welcome to Washington D.C., better known as the Capital Wasteland."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for such a long break from this series. I've been pretty busy, but now it's out, so please enjoy!**

 **Also, changing some stuff up!**

 **From now on, I will be writing in 1st person POV. Now, for some bits, I will still write in 3rd person to give context to the story and what not, but Alex's POV will be 1st person. I hope it's not that big of a change, but if you guys prefer all 3rd person, please tell me and I will stay with what I got. Thanks for reading!**

 **-Hardcore Hamsta**

. . . . . . . .

"All hail, the Atom! Brothers and sisters, this is our destiny! For Atom, the protector of this barren wasteland, will come down in a blaze of heat! To be cleansed for his forthcoming, step into the water, and drink his waters of LIFE!"

A single man stood in the center of town, shouting chants and prayers, desperately trying to grab the attention of passersby. They obviously knew to ignore him as most gave annoyed glances in his direction, others laughing at his awkward preaching stance. I myself chose to ignore him, like most people do with the Children of Atom. They're a whole bunch of crazies, usually exposing themselves to radiation in "the name of Atom." _The crazy sons of bitches would just love the Glowing Sea_ , I thought.

I took my attention away from the slightly glowing, crazy old man, and looked around at the town. Among the center, there were about two rows of rusted buildings lining most of the town. Most were shops, clinics, and bars. There are three main shops in Megaton; Craterside Supply, Moriarty's Saloon, and of course, the Clinic. When people weren't indoors, they were here, in the market area, either drinking, talking, trading, or fighting. Chatter and bustling usually filled the town center of Megaton everyday. The Brahmin waddle in their enclosure everyday, being tended to by the settlers while The Children of Atom scream their "prophecies." To be honest, all the noise quite irritated me, my head still pounding after waking up in the Clinic.

Megaton was constructed mainly of rusted old metal, the remnants of a plane being used for the entrance and walls which protected the entire settlement. Among the various shops, the upper portion of Megaton was housing, about six buildings holding different people. Lucas' house was the biggest, about three stories. He lived there with his boy, Harden. Then, there was Lucy West, who mostly kept to herself. There was Nathan and Manya's house as well. Nathan was obsessed with these people called the Enclave. He worshipped them like a god. Then there was Manya, an old inhabitant of Megaton. Then there was Jericho's house, Jericho being a washed up, old raider. Guy gave me the creeps. Then there was Billy Creel, and his little girl Maggie. There were others as well, but I'm having trouble remembering them after the vote.

The vote, which was held in the town center, basically decided if I lived or died.

After everyone had voted, Lucas read out the ballet.

Thirty-one 'Yes' and thirteen 'No.'

It was a landslide victory for me, as all of The Children of Atom had voted 'yes.' Come to find out later, they only wanted to recruit me into their little cult. Though, it feels like all the other votes were out of pity of me. I'm sure no one wanted to watch as Lucas handed me off to some raiders. Or at least, I hope that's the case…

Everyone soon dispersed after the meeting, a handful flooding back to Moriarty's Saloon. I just stood in the center of town, staring confused as to what to do next. I had no home, no food, and no weapons (Lucas confiscated all of 101's things.) All I had was this Pip-Boy, which apparently told me it was around eleven o'clock P.M. Everyone's homes and property glowed, with light shimmering through the cracks in the plated walls. The whole town was so…

Calming.

I closed my eyes and ran my hand through my immensely dirty hair. It was now that I noticed a thin layer of blood across my whole face and upper body. There was no way the blood was coming out of the jacket, but my face could do with a bit of a clean up. _Where are the showers even_ at _in this place_ , I thought. I wandered over to Lucas' house, knocking on the door. After a few seconds, the fragile metal door groaned open, while Lucas growled out,"What?"

I fumbled with my words,"Hey umm…. Lucas, could you uh tell me where the uh… showers are at?" He gave me rather vague instructions and slammed the door in my face. Startled, I wandered off to the men's restroom.

Inside were the decaying remains of a restroom and two showers. The whole setup was pretty intimidating, with the place completely in disarray. It was evident not much maintenance went on in here. Not to mention, the whole place smelled foul. It was so bad, my eyes watered. I soon found the source of the smell floating in an almost completely destroyed toilet.

"Fuckin' animals," I whispered through my clenched nose.

Prying my attention quickly from the ceramic bowl, I wandered over to the shower. The knobs and tap were badly rusted, and I took a lot of effort to turn the knob. When I did however, a frigid spray of cold water trickled onto my skin. _Hope it's clean,_ I prayed. In seconds, I had stripped down into nothing, discarding my clothes onto the floor, and was washing the grime off my face and hair. My Pip-Boy was still attached to my arm, but it seemed waterproof, thankfully. It felt refreshing, to say the least, and soon my body was as clean as it was gonna get.

Turning off the water, I flipped my hair out of my eyes and reached for my clothes. I groped around for at least a minute before finally peaking my head out from behind the shower curtain.

They were gone. My jacket, undershirt, and jeans were all gone. _They better not have_ , I thought angrily. Snapping the curtain open, I got out the ceramic tub and raced for the rusted door. I cracked it open, peaking my head out the door. I scanned the town for the thief, my jaw falling open when I looked at the town center. There on a large pole, were my clothes, flapping slightly in the gentle wind. I was filled with embarrassment and anger, my grip tightening on the door. I looked down the pole and picked out the face of the perpetrator.

It was Lucas Simms, with his hands on his hips, while staring me dead in the eyes.

Not breaking eye contact, he shouted out,"We're takin' a chance on you kid! DON'T LET US DOWN!"

A couple people shouted in agreement and I just stood there, hiding my naked and cold body behind the door. Soon after, I closed the door, deciding to figure this all out in the morning. And there I sat, naked and shivering on the rusted metal floor. Just as I was starting to nod off though, a rap on the door snapped me awake. I groggily got up and swung the door open, still hiding behind it.

"Hiyaa! How ya doing!? Oh, you must be cold Alex, here put these on!"

A jumpsuit was thrusted behind the door, and I soon realized it was Moira. I sleepily croaked out,"Thanks, Moira…"

"Don't mention it, silly! You're a newcomer, so it's only customary to offer you a 'Welcome to the Neighborhood' gift!"

I nodded, and got dressed before exiting the restroom. The jumpsuit was a little baggy, obviously made for a taller person. It was blue with a yellow trim around and down the middle of it. A belt was stitched into the fabric and it snaked around my waist. Other than the size though, the material was comfy and warm. Moira was ecstatic, asking how well it fit. "It's a little big, but I appreciate the gift." Moira squealed out,"I knew it wouldn't fit you well, he was always taller anyway. But I'm glad you like it!"

I paused, looking quizzically at her. "This isn't yours?" I asked. She energetically spurted out,"Oh no! This was for ol' 101, it seems like it was just yesterday when he came into my shop, shaking like a pup!"

I stood terrified, in the jumpsuit of the man I just killed a day earlier.

"Did you say this was his?! And did you say he was 'shaking like a pup?!' That guy was shaking? I can't even imagine that! A killer like him?!"

Moira looked down sadly, before whispering out,"It's cold out here. Come back to the shop and I'll tell you about _him_ ; '101' or 'The Lone Wanderer,' whichever you prefer…"

She turned to walk towards Craterside Supply, and I followed her, watching as my bloody clothes flapped in the wind.

" _ **Ya know, my blood doesn't look that bad on that jacket of yours. Brings out the brown better don't you think?"**_

I snapped my head to the right, watching in horror as 101 walked alongside me on the old, metal ramp. Somehow though, I didn't flinch or feel scared. On the contrary, I felt… excited he was there.

"It's you! You're dead though, I blew your jaw clean off!"

" _ **Nothing a Stimpack and some stitches can't handle. But, ya know, I'm wondering how you're still alive. I was sure they'd feed you to those dogs down at Springvale Elementary. Guess Lucas likes you, same can't be said for me. And look at Moira! Damn that airhead looks as dumb as ever."**_

He started to chuckle, and I gripped my fist tightly. "At least I wasn't shaking when I walked into her store!" I jabbed at him.

He laughed some more.

" _ **Yeah, instead she found you shivering and naked in the showers! Even gave you my jumpsuit!"**_

I growled angrily at him, earning another howl of laughter.

" _ **Yeah… you're gonna have a shitload of fun. I've got friends in high places and friends that do scary shit in low places. Should've just let me kill ya, but life goes on! There's one thing you should know though…"**_

I eyed him suspiciously and he continued.

" _ **...You're gonna have to earn that number stitched on your back."**_

And just like that, he was gone, his silhouette burned into my vision. Apparently, Moira had been rambling on about having to eat live radroaches one night after Jericho locked her in her own house. The only nasty part about that story was Moira having live radroaches in her house, as in _living with them_. _God, I hope I don't have to sleep on the floor._

. . . . . . . .

Moira grunted as she pulled a creaky and stained mattress out of a storage room. I watched, amused as she struggled with the filthy thing. It was like watching a pup trying to drag away it's full grown mother. Sighing, I patted her on the back and hoisted the other side up with moderate effort. The rusty floor creaked as we stepped and positioned the mattress into place in her bedroom, which was rather small like the rest of the shop downstairs. Moira huffed and tossed a pillow into my arms exclaiming,"I don't have a spare blanket, sorry! I used my last one wrapping up a bundle of Deathclaw meat so it wouldn't go bad. I can go get it if you want! It shouldn't be too smelly….or bloody….or-"

"I'm fine Moira. Let's just go to sleep," I grunted.

"Alright!" she chirped, happily blowing out the candles in the room and diving into her bed. We both rustled and squirmed until we got comfortable and a pregnant silence cramped the air. Soon after, a dull, croaking sound leaked through the cracks in the building. We laid in our beds like that for a while, waiting for something; anything really.

"So….I have to tell you about him, huh?"

"Please," I whispered.

She sighed and began,"He came here in 2277, two years ago. He was shaken up, afraid; he'd killed some people and escaped from a Vault just hours before. It was a shock to him, losing his home and being thrown into some dangerous and scary wasteland. Lucas and I helped him, gave him supplies and shelter 'till he got on his feet." Moira paused, choking up it seemed. I never knew she could be this serious, which begs the question: Why is she so serious about it? What kind of relationship did she and 101 have?

"His name was Albert," Moira sighed,"And we had a lot of faith in him, just like we have now with you. Don't let us down like he did."

None of us said anything after that, and the suffocating silence filled the room again. Somehow, we both drifted off to sleep.


End file.
